180 countries ranked by homicide, road fatalities, conflict, freedom, LGBT rights and women's safety
Visiting: Dangerous
Here's a secret almost nobody knows: South Sudan hosts one of the largest land-mammal migrations on earth, millions of antelope moving through Boma and Badingilo. A handful of supervised fly-in trips exist, and that's the only form of travel that makes any sense in a country still scarred by conflict on every measure. For nearly everyone, this is one to admire from a documentary.
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
South Sudan: 16.5
Ranked 17th in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Cattle-raid massacres, intercommunal revenge cycles and armed impunity — among the world's most violent places even between wars.
The distinction between crime and conflict barely exists; visitor risk tracks the country's general lawlessness.
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
South Sudan: 23.3
Ranked 25th in the world for the deadliest roads.
South Sudan has almost no paved roads, and what movement there is runs on rough tracks in old machines — the toll estimate is high and probably kind.
Aid-agency rules are the sensible template: hardened vehicles, convoys, daylight only.
Ongoing conflict — war, insurgency or armed tension, at home or abroad. Lower is better.
South Sudan: 3.0
Ranked 16th most conflict-affected country in the world.
The 2018 peace deal is coming apart: the vice-president was arrested in 2025, his forces clash with the army, and the militias are choosing sides again. The world's youngest country keeps sliding back toward civil war.
Personal freedom — speech, press, protest, movement, religion — higher is better.
South Sudan: 3.9
Ranked 12th least free country in the world.
The world's youngest country has known mostly war. The press is silenced by fear, critics disappear, and civic life has never had room to grow.
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
South Sudan: Illegal
Ranked 58th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Same-sex acts carry up to ten years under the penal code.
War, displacement and deep conservatism leave no space at all; the law is barely the biggest danger.
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is — higher is better. Rape by strangers and police inaction aren't measured anywhere; the notes cover them.
South Sudan: 4.5
Ranked 4th least safe country in the world for women.
Conflict-related sexual violence is documented by the UN, political violence against women is recorded, and there is effectively no court to take a case to. Two in three women here say a husband can be justified in beating his wife.
All governments advise against all travel. Armed groups use sexual violence; a visitor's risk is a civilian's risk.